Side-by-side refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator comprising a single liner and a removable partition separating the liner space into side-by-side storage compartments. The refrigerant conduits passing into the liner area for connecting a refrigerant condensing unit to an evaporator unit in the rear portion of one of the compartments are positioned in a passage beneath the partition.

[ 1 June 20, 1972 United States Patent Dodge, IH et al.

2,437,414 I 3/1948 Archbald.................. 2,534,272 12/1950 Kleist........ III, Louisville; 3 37 79 1 Howard D. F. Fem Creek, both 5,6 4/ 968 Helsel........... of Ky.

[54] SIDE-BY-SIDE REFRIGERATOR [72] Inventors: Gerald Floyd Primary Examiner-William J. Wye Attorney-Walter E. Rule, Francis H. Boos, Jr., Frank L. Neuhauser, Oscar B. Waddell and Joseph B. F0

[73] Assignee: Genera! Electric Company [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1970 rman ABSTRACT A refrigerator comprising a single liner and a removable partition separating the liner space into side-by-side storage compartments. The refrigerant conduits passing into the liner area r connecting a refrigerant condensing unit to an evaporator unit in the rear portion of one of the compartments are positioned in a passage beneath the partition.

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o '0 w m P sm A U! 1]] .I 2 00 6 2 555 5 [[l UNITED STATES PATENTS 3Clainu,3DrawingFigures 2,103,683 12/1937 Kalischer.................................62/329 PAIENTEfimzo m2 GERALD F moesm BY & HOWARD 0F TRUE 312 THEIR A ORUEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Substantially all of the commercially availabIeside-by-side refrigerators contain foamed-in-place insulation, that is, a foamed polyurethyane plastic material. This material permits a reduction in the required thickness of the cabinet walls thus providing a larger storage volume within a cabinet of given exterior dimensions.

Most of the known side-by-side refrigerators are also refrigerated by means of an evaporator extending vertically along the rear wall of the freezer compartment and the compartments are cooled by air circulating over the evaporator. The condensing component of the refrigeration system is mounted within a machine compartment in the lower portion of the cabinet. 'One of the principal problems in the manufacture of such refrigerators has involved the placement of the conduits connecting the condensing component and the evaporator. If these conduits pass through the foam insulation, they must either be placed in position prior to the foaming operation or suitable passages must be provided during the foaming operation for the subsequent insertion of the conduits. The disadvantages of these modes of construction are that while the individual components of the refrigeration system can be tested prior to assembly within the cabinet, it is only after they are totally connected and the system can be charged with refrigerant that a final and fully adequate test can be made on the system. A defective system, detected at this point, is costly to repair.

Because of the cost and quality advantages of charging and pretesting a complete or integrated refrigeration unit prior to assembly within the cabinet, some side-by-side refrigerators are manufactured by totally assembling the cabinet including the partition and front mounting an integrated unit in the cabinet with the refrigerant conduits passing over the front edge of the liner and along the bottom wall of the freezer compartment to the evaporator. For appearance reasons, and in order to protect these conduits from damage, it is necessary to add a protective cover within the freezer compartment which at the very least detracts from the appearance of the finished cabinet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a side-by-side refrigerator including a single liner divided by a partition into separate storage compartments and an integrated refrigeration unit, the partition portion of the cabinet being so constructed that the refrigeration unit can be installed into the cabinet, after the assembly and foaming thereof, with the refrigerant conduits passing into the liner being hidden and protected by the partition.

In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a cabinet including a liner defining an upper storage space having an access opening at the front thereof and a machine compartment below the liner. A removable vertical partition, which is slidably positioned in the liner storage space, divides that space into side-by-side freezer and fresh food compartment. The means for slidably positioning the partition in the liner includes means defining a rearwardly extending passage beneath the lower edge of the partition for receiving the refrigerant conduits of the integrated refrigeration system or unit, these conduits connecting an evaporator component in the rear portion of the freezer compartment to the condensing component mounted in the machine compartments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with the doors removed, of a household refrigerator embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the upper and lower portions of the cabinet partition; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the lower partition portion of the cabinet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With particular reference to FIG. I of the drawing, there is illustrated a refi'igerator cabinet comprising an outer shell 1 and an inner liner 2 which are spaced from one another and which together define the outer, rear, side, top and bottom wall portions of the cabinet. The space within the liner 2 is divided by means of a partition 3 into separate compartments, specifically a freezer compartment 4 and a fresh food compartment 5. In the manufacture of the cabinet, theliner is placed within the outer shell in a suitable foaming mold or fixture having wall structure for supporting the surfaces of these components and, following the usual practice, the spaces between the front edges of the liner and shell are sealed by a foam sealing material such as glass fiber or the like. A' foamable resin insulating material is then introduced into the remaining spaces between the liner and shell so that the shell and liner are rigidly bonded together by the insulating material.

The partition 3 is removable positioned within the liner 2 by means including an upper guide member 7 and a lower guide member 8 as illustrated in FIG. 2 of the drawing. This partition 3 may be of any suitable construction including spaced side wall members 9 and 10 of sheet material which are substantially coextensive with vertical cross section of the liner in the partition area, that is, they extend from the top to the bottom walls of the liner and from the rear wall to the front edge 1 l of the liner. The top, rear and bottom edges of the partition are provided with a sealing gasket 12 having flexible extensions 14 adapted to engage the adjacent side wall portions of the liner when the partition is in position with the liner. The space between the side walls 9 and 10 is filled with suit able thermal insulating material 15 which is preferably either a foamed-inplace polyurethane foam or polyurethane foam slab stock. Suitable air passages are provided in the partition for circulating refrigerated air through the fresh food compartment 5.

In accordance with the present invention, at least the lower guide member 8 extending rearwardly from the front edge of the liner 2 along the flat portion of the bottom wall 16 and then upwardly along the slanting or inclined portion of the wall is, as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing, formed to define a rearwardly extending passage 17. More specifically, in theillustrated embodiment of the invention, this lower guide member 8 is channel shaped. The partition 3, or more specifically the gasket 12 at the bottom of the partition, is also channel shaped and recessed between the partition side walls so that it will slide over or be guided by the guide member 8 as the partition is slid into and out of the liner.

The refrigerator also includes an integrated refrigeration unit or system comprising a vertically mounted evaporator 20 positioned along the rear wall of the freezer compartment 4 behind a face plate 21 and a refrigerant condensing component (not shown shown) mounted within the machine compartment 22 at the bottom of the cabinet.

In accordance with the present invention, the refrigerant conduits connecting these two components, that is the suction line 23 and the capillary 24 joined in heat exchange relationship are positioned in the passage 17 beneath the partition 3 where they are hidden and protected by the partition side walls. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawing, these conduits pass from the condensing unit through the open front of the machinery compartment 22 and upwardly through a slot 27 provided in the lower shell face and into the passage 17. They leave the rear end 29 of the passage adjacent the face plate 21 and pass through a slot 30 in the bottom edge portion of the partition 3 to the evaporator 20. If desired, the member 8 may include clamping means such as fingers 25 for fastening the conduits in the passage 17.

By this construction a complete assembled or integrated refrigeration unit, charged and pretested before installation in the cabinet, can be front mounted in the cabinet prior to insertion of the partition 3. No part of the refrigeration unit passes through the foam insulation. The portions of the conduits within the passage 17 are protected by the partition and the integrated unit can be removed from the cabinet by removing the partition 3 without destroying any of the cabinet insulation or other structure.

After installation of the refrigerating unit in the cabinet and the sliding of the partition 3 into the liner, the partition is suitably secured to the liner at its upper and lower front corners as by means of pairs of brackets 31 provided on opposite sides of the partition. These brackets are fastened to the front edges of the partition side walls within the strengthening channels 32 and to the liner 2 within similar strengthening channels 33. The cabinet is then completed by the installation of a mullion 35 suitably connected at its upper and lower ends to the front, top and bottom edges of the shell 1 and if desired, adjustable braces 36 may be provided at various points along the mullion for securing the mullion to the partition. A breaker frame 37 as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawing is employed to bridge the spaces between the forward edges of the partition 3 or the liner 2 and the adjacent edges of the outer shell 1 or the mullion 3.5. This breaker strip which overlaps the channels 32 and 33 also hides the brackets 31 and covers the portions of the suction line 23 and capillary 24 extending between the forward edge of the liner and the face portion 28 ofthe-shell.

In an alternative method of manufacturing the lower guide means 8 are preassembled on the refrigerant conduits and the guide means fastened by screws or the like to the liner bottom wall at the time that the integrated unit is installed in the liner.

If desired, the upper guide 7 may also be formed to provide a passage 40 for containing the electrical conductors 41 leading from the source of power in the machinery compartment 22 to various parts of the cabinet such as the light fixture 43 mounted adjacent the rear portion of the liner 3.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodirnent of the invention, it will be understood that it is not limited thereto and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising:

a liner having top, bottom and rear walls defining a storage space having an access opening at the front thereof;

a machine compartment below said liner and having an opening at the front thereof;

a removable vertical partition extending between said top, bottom and rear walls of said liner and dividing said space into side-by-side storage compartments;

positioning means on the top and bottom walls of said liner for slidably positioning said partition in said liner and including a channel shaped member extending rearwardly from adjacent lower front edge of said liner;

a unitary refrigeration system including a condensing unit positioned in said machine compartment, an evaporator unit adjacent the rear wall of one of said compartments and refrigerant conduits connecting said units;

said conduits extending from said machine compartment into said liner over the front lower edge of said liner and rearwardly through said channel shaped member to said evaporator. v

2. A refrigerator according to claim 1 in which the side walls of said partition overlap the side walls of said channel shaped member.

3. A refrigerator according to claim I in which said channel shaped member includes clamping means for securing said conduits.

* t l l 

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising: a liner having top, bottom and rear walls defining a storage space having an access opening at the front thereof; a machine compartment below said liner and having an opening at the front thereof; a removable vertical partition extending between said top, bottom and rear walls of said liner and dividing said space into side-by-side storage compartments; positioning means on the top and bottom walls of said liner for slidably positioning said partition in said liner and including a channel shaped member extending rearwardly from adjacent lower front edgE of said liner; a unitary refrigeration system including a condensing unit positioned in said machine compartment, an evaporator unit adjacent the rear wall of one of said compartments and refrigerant conduits connecting said units; said conduits extending from said machine compartment into said liner over the front lower edge of said liner and rearwardly through said channel shaped member to said evaporator.
 2. A refrigerator according to claim 1 in which the side walls of said partition overlap the side walls of said channel shaped member.
 3. A refrigerator according to claim 1 in which said channel shaped member includes clamping means for securing said conduits. 